But with a reputation as a relentless and genial retail campaigner (to get on the ballot he single-handedly gathered more than 400 signatures from registered Republicans) observers in both parties say that his bare-bones, tough on crime and no new taxes message may be enough to make him, at the very least, a dark-horse contender.
“Every day I go around and knock on doors,” said Polacco. “I’m taking my message to the people, door to door and people are responding to what I have to say. I’m not worried about all the politics of it.”
But, in a difficult, but savvy, political maneuver, Polacco, 45, is also running a campaign to snatch the Conservative Party line away from Cahill as a write-in candidate. The effort involves even more door-knocking — in this case on the doors of Conservative Party voters to convince them to fill out a write-in ballot rather than simply filling in the circle for Cahill, the only candidate whose name will appear on the party line. If successful, Polacco would be guaranteed a party line in November. Cahill, if he loses the GOP primary, would be out of the race entirely.
Jacobs touts her experience
The fourth candidate in the race, and the one most observers say is longest shot is onetime Republican Committee chair and school board president Jean Jacobs. After two failed campaigns for common council in the heavily Democratic Fifth Ward, Jacobs, 66, announced in January that she would take a shot at the mayor’s office. Her candidacy got no traction among party leaders, who ousted her from the chairmanship in a rancorous debate following losses in the 2007 city elections. But Jacobs, a health-care sector finance expert, said the brush-off at the party’s June convention was reflective of a weak and leaderless committee, not the will of rank-and-file Republicans.
Jacobs is hoping that primary voters will respond to her assertion that she is the only candidate in the race with business experience and the city needs a financial professional at the helm.
“I believe very strongly that the city needs to be run like a business,” said Jacobs. “And I am the only candidate who is capable of doing that.”
Jacobs has proposed the creation of a new position at City Hall: a business manager who would report to the mayor and be responsible for fiscal planning and oversight of departmental spending. She has also proposed instituting a spending freeze whenever the city runs out of cash on hand (in years past the Common Council has approved borrowing against anticipated revenue to pay bills once the general fund runs dry). Jacobs’ fiscal proposals also include one-year contracts for all city unions and an end to line-item transfers which allow department heads to juggle money between different budget lines.
“We have to get an eye on what’s going on, what we have and what we don’t have, and stop spending money that we don’t have.”
As a resident and business owner, realigning the homestead/non-homestead tax structure is critical for the city’s economic health. Creating “green economy” jobs is equally important – and achievable – given some creative efforts and collaborative spirit from a new administration. I think Turco-Levin offers the best hope for acheiving these twin priorities, and I say this as a progressive Democrat.l We truly and desperately need new ideas, regardless of party affiliation.